Human Rights First Denounces Extremism in Congressional Hearings

WASHINGTON, DC – After three Congressional hearings in three weeks where Members of Congress deliberately spread anti-immigrant and antisemitic sentiment, disinformation, and conspiracy theories — most recently at yesterday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and Subcommittee on Health — Human Rights First denounced Members’ use of discriminatory rhetoric under the pretenses of immigration reform.

“Racism and anti-democratic extremism should have no place in Congress,” said Human Rights First Executive Vice President Kareem Shora. “They lead to discriminatory policy and encourage violence. Members truly interested in reforming our immigration system should stop spewing hate and fear because Federal law and international treaties are clear: migrants have the legal right to seek asylum.”

Members of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability have records of spreading extremist content:

• Chip Roy has repeatedly supported Texas Governor Abbot’s illegal authorization of National Guard troops on the Southern border, using the racist “invasion” rhetoric to depict migrants as a violent threat.
• Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar were removed from committee assignments for violent rhetoric and denounced by their party for affiliating with white supremacists, though reinstated on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability in this Congress.
• Other members have supported the antisemitic, white supremacist “great replacement” conspiracy theory and spread bigoted stereotypes and disinformation targeting migrants.
• The House Committee on Energy and Commerce invited as an expert witness National Border Patrol Council union president Brandon Judd, who has embraced the great replacement conspiracy theory and has a history of promoting disinformation.

“Extremist rhetoric targeting immigrants is a hallmark of the anti-democratic far right,” said Human Rights First Senior Researcher on Antisemitism, Dr. Liz Yates. “This increasingly common language has deadly implications, having inspired terrorist attacks across the country, including Buffalo and El Paso.”

Human Rights First submitted statements for the record denouncing the hearing’s mainstreaming of extremist rhetoric and outlining a path to protect the rights of asylum seekers on the southern border.

• On February 7, 2023, Human Rights First submitted a Statement for the Record ahead of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing “On the Front Lines of the Border Crisis: A Hearing with Chief Patrol Agents.”
• On February 1, 2023, Human Rights First submitted a Statement for the Record ahead of the House Judiciary Committee hearing “Biden’s Border Crisis – Part One.”

Human Rights First has repeatedly warned that hateful rhetoric leads to increased violence and threatens our democracy:

• On December 12, 2022, Human Rights First published “’ Digital Soldiers:’ QAnon Extremists Exploit U.S. Military, Threaten Democracy,” a report detailing how the QAnon movement feigns an alliance with the military to continue to threaten democracy.
• On December 2, 2022, The Fulcrum published “The midterms were a win for free and fair elections. Nativists are still coming for democracy,” authored by Yates.
• On June 9, 2022, Yates testified before the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on how the bigoted, antisemitic, and xenophobic narratives of the anti-democratic far-right extremist movement in the U.S. are motivating white supremacist terrorism in the United States.
• Director of Veterans for American Ideals Chris Purdy testified on March 31, 2022, before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on the targeting of veterans for radicalization by extremist organizations.